As we discussed a few weeks ago, Mitt Romney thought a trip abroad would bolster his foreign-policy credibility and make him appear more "presidential." So far this week, however, the Republican candidate has ended up looking like an amateur who's nowhere near ready to lead.

It started the day before his departure, when Romney caused a diplomatic incident with Australia, a steadfast U.S. ally, misquoting the Australian foreign minister. The same day, a Romney advisor made a racially-charged comment about President Obama to a British newspaper.

And then Romney arrived in London, where things went really downhill. The Republican, whose foreign policy experience is limited to his mysterious Swiss bank account, said there are "disconcerting" signs that his British hosts are not prepared to host the Olympics. (Yesterday, he also forgot Labour Party leader Ed Miliband's name after meeting him.)

British Prime Minister David Cameron did not seem pleased.

The prime minister has hit back at comments from the US presidential candidate Mitt Romney querying Britain's readiness for the Olympics... Romney said the fallout from the G4S security fiasco and a threatened strike by immigration officials were "disconcerting" and questioned whether British people would get behind the Games.

"Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? And that's something which we only find out once the Games actually begin. It is hard to know just how well it will turn out," said Romney.

But Cameron, who was due to meet Romney later on Thursday, said: "In terms of people coming together, the torch relay demonstrated that this is not a London Games, this is not an England Games but this is a United Kingdom Games. We'll show the world we've not only come together as a United Kingdom but are extremely good at welcoming people from across the world."

Cameron said he was going to make this point to Romney when he met him later on Thursday.Romney's been abroad for one day and he's already annoying our allies, while making himself appear amateurish.

Matters may worsen tonight: he's hosting a campaign fundraiser in the UK with international financiers, some of whom are under investigation as part of the LIBOR scandal.Update: The British PM isn't done venting. “We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world,” Cameron said, according to The Telegraph. “Of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.” Maybe Romney should launch an apology tour.

So Mitt Romney spends Tuesday pledging that as president he would never, ever leak intelligence information and then today:

Eyebrows going up about Romney's claim to have met the Sir John Sawers, the chief of MI6. Asked about Syria by an American reporter whether he and Cameron spoke about Syria and he replies: "I appreciated the insights and perspectives of the leaders of the government here and the opposition here as well as the head of MI6"

As The Guardian explains:

For our American readership, this isn't like bragging you just met David Petraeus. The British take on the national secret intelligence service comes with an extra-heavy dollop of the whole secret thing. The very existence of the MI6 was not officially acknowledged until 1994.

Good luck, Romney handlers: this is only stop No. 1 on a three-stop international tour. What will he say in Jerusalem?

Maybe if MI6 also handled Romney's tax returns then he could have kept his mouth shut?

Or perhaps he was simply distracted by trying to put out the fire caused by his other gaffe: saying that he doubted Great Britain's ability to pull off the games.

"You know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out," Romney said. "There are a few things that were disconcerting, the stories about the – private security firm not having enough people – the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging."

Prime Minister David Cameron reassured Romney that everything would turn out just fine, adding a bit of a rebuke to Romney: "We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world," Cameron said. "Of course it's easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere." Romney, who has made "No Apology" the centerpiece of his foreign policy, subsequently apologized, walking back his comments doubting London's readiness.I guess the moral of the story is that Mitt Romney has all of Dick Cheney's diplomatic talent ... with none of his charm.

Without Great Britain and their great minds and explorers, there would be no United States of America, Internet would have been invented by a Japanese instead and instead of Getbig there would be a forum called Getsmall. We would have no Big Ron Avidan either.

The landmass that we now call United States of America would have been called Amerigo Vespucci-Land without Great Britain.

Without Great Britain and their great minds and explorers, there would be no United States of America, Internet would have been invented by a Japanese instead and instead of Getbig there would be a forum called Getsmall. We would have no Big Ron Avidan either.

The landmass that we now call United States of America would have been called Amerigo Vespucci-Land without Great Britain.

Yeah.....what would Mitt Romney know about putting on a well organized, profitable Olympics......oh, wait a minute. I knew that Salt Lake City Summer Olympic thing sounded familiar.

Meanwhile Obama and his buddy Rahm Emanuel are too busy making sure Chik-Fil-A is not welcome in Chicago because of the owner's stance on gay marriage, but they're reaching out to their anti-white, anti-semite, buddy Louis Farrakahn and welcoming him.

no that's the only one they had to offer - don't think for a second if they had anybody else Romney would be nominated, they dislike him as much as anybody else but they just hate Obama that much more.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows Mitt Romney attracting 48% of the vote, while President Obama earns support from 44%. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

Today, consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level of 2012. Most Americans believe both the economy and their own personal finances are getting worse.

Long-term optimism about the economy has fallen to the lowest level ever measured by Rasmussen Reports. Just 40% expect the economy to be stronger in five years. That’s down from 46% a year ago, 50% two years ago and 58% three years ago. Most believe the housing market will take more than three years to recover.

Matchup results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). See tracking history.

Forty-six percent (46%) believe Romney should release more of his tax returns, while 46% think he’s released enough. Not surprisingly, Democrats say he should release more, Republicans say he’s done enough, and unaffiliated voters are fairly evenly divided. Just 35% of all voters say the issue is even somewhat important in terms of how they will vote. Twenty-two percent (22%) say it is Very Important, a level of interest lower than found for all 10 issues tracked regularly by Rasmussen Reports.

Thirty percent (30%) believe the United States is generally heading in the right direction.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows Mitt Romney attracting 48% of the vote, while President Obama earns support from 44%. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

Today, consumer confidence has fallen to the lowest level of 2012. Most Americans believe both the economy and their own personal finances are getting worse.

Long-term optimism about the economy has fallen to the lowest level ever measured by Rasmussen Reports. Just 40% expect the economy to be stronger in five years. That’s down from 46% a year ago, 50% two years ago and 58% three years ago. Most believe the housing market will take more than three years to recover.

Matchup results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update). See tracking history.

Forty-six percent (46%) believe Romney should release more of his tax returns, while 46% think he’s released enough. Not surprisingly, Democrats say he should release more, Republicans say he’s done enough, and unaffiliated voters are fairly evenly divided. Just 35% of all voters say the issue is even somewhat important in terms of how they will vote. Twenty-two percent (22%) say it is Very Important, a level of interest lower than found for all 10 issues tracked regularly by Rasmussen Reports.

Thirty percent (30%) believe the United States is generally heading in the right direction.

in all fairness coach and leave aside that you just fucking hate Obama .... can you not see what spineless fucking company man Romney is? Don't you think he will fuck you over even twice as bad just with a bigger company smile on his face?

in all fairness coach and leave aside that you just fucking hate Obama .... can you not see what spineless fucking company man Romney is? Don't you think he will fuck you over even twice as bad just with a bigger company smile on his face?

You mean fucked over more than we already have been? No....no possible way. Obama is the spawn of the Devil and should be treated as such.

in all fairness coach and leave aside that you just fucking hate Obama .... can you not see what spineless fucking company man Romney is? Don't you think he will fuck you over even twice as bad just with a bigger company smile on his face?

Who cares? Obama has failed miserably beyond words.

Lets give mittens a chance and if he messes up we vote him out in 2016.

no that's the only one they had to offer - don't think for a second if they had anybody else Romney would be nominated, they dislike him as much as anybody else but they just hate Obama that much more.

President Obama's so-called "star power" flopped on the world stage -- and his failure to bring the 2016 Olympics to his hometown of Chicago may cost him a heavy price in political capital.

The Olympic diss was especially embarrassing because Chicago was the first of four finalists to be eliminated by the world body despite the president's dramatic late-night flight to Copenhagen to make his pitch in person. No U.S president had ever personally pitched the Olympics, and Chicagoans had desperately hoped their city's favorite son would use his charisma to bring back the games.

Chicago spent nearly $50 million over the last few years trying to win over the 100-plus member International Olympic Committee. But the stinging rejection cost Obama even more, in prestige. Moments after the decision, Adam Brookes of the BBC predicted the defeat will diminish Obama's political stature.

"The shock of Chicago's elimination was greater for the fact that it came in the first round," Brookes wrote. "And greater for the fact that President Obama had taken valuable hours from his packed and tense political schedule to travel to Copenhagen.

Obama appeared in Copenhagen along with stars like Oprah Winfrey and First Lady Michelle Obama, was Mayor Richard Daley and a cadre of lesser-known operatives from a city with a political landscape known for patronage and corruption.

While the rebuke won't directly affect Obama's political agenda, it will take a toll on his image. After all, it wasn't right-wingers at a town hall meeting, or even the loyal opposition in Congress who said "no thanks" so emphatically to Obama.

As we discussed a few weeks ago, Mitt Romney thought a trip abroad would bolster his foreign-policy credibility and make him appear more "presidential." So far this week, however, the Republican candidate has ended up looking like an amateur who's nowhere near ready to lead.

It started the day before his departure, when Romney caused a diplomatic incident with Australia, a steadfast U.S. ally, misquoting the Australian foreign minister. The same day, a Romney advisor made a racially-charged comment about President Obama to a British newspaper.

And then Romney arrived in London, where things went really downhill. The Republican, whose foreign policy experience is limited to his mysterious Swiss bank account, said there are "disconcerting" signs that his British hosts are not prepared to host the Olympics. (Yesterday, he also forgot Labour Party leader Ed Miliband's name after meeting him.)

British Prime Minister David Cameron did not seem pleased.

The prime minister has hit back at comments from the US presidential candidate Mitt Romney querying Britain's readiness for the Olympics... Romney said the fallout from the G4S security fiasco and a threatened strike by immigration officials were "disconcerting" and questioned whether British people would get behind the Games.

"Do they come together and celebrate the Olympic moment? And that's something which we only find out once the Games actually begin. It is hard to know just how well it will turn out," said Romney.

But Cameron, who was due to meet Romney later on Thursday, said: "In terms of people coming together, the torch relay demonstrated that this is not a London Games, this is not an England Games but this is a United Kingdom Games. We'll show the world we've not only come together as a United Kingdom but are extremely good at welcoming people from across the world."

Cameron said he was going to make this point to Romney when he met him later on Thursday.Romney's been abroad for one day and he's already annoying our allies, while making himself appear amateurish.

Matters may worsen tonight: he's hosting a campaign fundraiser in the UK with international financiers, some of whom are under investigation as part of the LIBOR scandal.Update: The British PM isn't done venting. “We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world,” Cameron said, according to The Telegraph. “Of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.” Maybe Romney should launch an apology tour.

How badly is Mitt Romney's trip to the UK going? After this morning's difficulties, which were bad enough, the Republican presidential hopeful caused more trouble by acknowledging a discussion he had about Syria with MI6 -- which he really wasn't supposed to talk about.

Actually, let me ask that initial question again: how badly is Mitt Romney's trip to the UK going? This tweet comes by way of James Chapman, the political editor of the UK's Daily Mail:

Chapman soon after quoted another British source that said, after meeting Romney, that he's "devoid of charm, warmth, humour or sincerity."

How badly is Mitt Romney's trip to the UK going? London Mayor Boris Johnson, a conservative, openly mocked Romney today at a rally in Hyde Park in front of 60,000 people. (Update: here's the videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5TUXmj8Btw.) The same paper ran a report calling the start of Romney's trip "humiliating."

Romney hoped this trip would make him look like a leader ready for the global stage. So far, it's making him look like he's nowhere near ready to sit at the big kids' table.

The next question, though, is whether any of this matters, at least in a domestic/electoral context.

There's a reasonable case to be made that this apparent debacle won't move a single American vote. Indeed, for many on the right, this might very well be a badge of honor -- if Romney is being mocked in the UK, they assume, he's probably doing something right.

But there's just one angle to this that's nagging me: I've long perceived Romney as a hapless minor leaguer who pretends to be ready for the big show, and a successful international trip is supposed to be one of the ways in which he can prove someone like me wrong. Ostensibly, Romney can travel abroad -- taking advantage of his Anglo Saxon roots? -- and prove to Americans that he commands respect. He can be an effective leader of the free world, the argument goes, because international audiences will take him seriously.